'Let your story flow': the ""la Caixa" Foundation's emblematic Story-writing Competition for the Elderly returns
The "la Caixa" Foundation has opened the call for entries for the 14th edition of the Story Writing Competition for the Elderly, organised in collaboration with Radio Nacional de España (RNE) and La Vanguardia. Until 29 July, people over the age of 60 can submit their stories and micro-stories to the competition, under the slogan 'Let your story flow'. The fifteen finalists will travel in October to CaixaForum Valencia, the new facility of the "la Caixa" Foundation, where the competition will be judged and the prizes awarded.
Participation in this Short Story Competition has been steadily increasing since it was launched in 2009, with a starting point of 375 entries. Last year, 1,898 stories and 938 micro-stories written by elderly people from all over Spain were submitted during the almost four months of the competition.
The winners of the competition receive as a prize the radio adaptation of their story and its broadcast on RNE's programme Juntos paso a paso, the illustration of the story and its publication in La Vanguardia and on the websites of the "la Caixa" Foundation and RNE. In addition, the winners in both categories will be able to form part of the jury for the next edition of the competition.
Moreover, all the finalist stories will be included in a biennial book that supports the promotion of the Great Readers literary workshops that are held both in the "la Caixa" Foundation's own centres and in centres where there is an agreement with administrations throughout Spain. The publication of the book is a recognition for all the participants and in each edition more than 1,000 copies are sent to those older people who wish to participate, through their reading, in the stories that other older people have created. This competition is part of the Great Readers workshops, in which, over the last two years, more than 14,000 elderly people have taken part.
The aim of this competition is to promote the participation and active role of older people in society, encouraging the habit of reading, creativity and the possibility of embarking on new challenges throughout their lives, such as writing a story, perhaps for the first time. Stories written by older people represent the reflection of knowledge accumulated over the years and through lived experiences. They are a testimony of how they observe our history, our times and their own lives.
Those interested can consult the competition rules at: https://fundacionlacaixa.org/es/personas-mayores-concurso-relatos
This year, the jury is made up of the writers Soledad Puértolas and Fernando Schwartz; the journalists Ana Vega Toscano, specialist in culture at RNE, and Miquel Molina, deputy director of La Vanguardia; the winners of the 2021 edition, both from the Valencian Community, Cristina Soto and Antonio Luis Vicente; and Jesús N. Arroyo, corporate director of Public Affairs at the "la Caixa" Foundation.
The "la Caixa" Foundation's Elderly People's Programme, with more than a hundred years of history, has the strategic objective of tackling the new challenges that arise in old age. Its current commitment is to generate models based on "being" and not so much on "doing", focusing on the development of a personal project. In this way, it seeks to facilitate a new stage in old age that is worth living with realism and responsibility, enjoying and contributing. To this end, it stresses the need to reverse isolation and loneliness through supportive relationships and care both for oneself and for the people around us.
Juntos paso a paso is a public service programme specialising in information about the elderly and people with disabilities, two groups of citizens who find it difficult to make themselves heard and receive useful information. In this sense, the programme seeks to normalise their lives and promote active and healthy ageing. And it achieves this objective by going to homes and centres for the elderly, and opening their microphones so that listeners can speak and explain their situation. The winners of this fourteenth competition of Stories Written by Older People will have a space on the aforementioned programme, where, in addition, the radio adaptation of the texts will be broadcast.